At 34, Spurs' Duncan prepares for another long haul

Standing at the starting line of his 14th NBA season, Tim Duncan is battening down for another long haul. 'It's hard to get too high for the beginning,' he says, 'knowing what you have in front of you.' Spurs slideshows

Published 11:20 pm, Monday, October 25, 2010

The Spurs’ Tim Duncan (center) puts up a shot over the Rockets’ Jordan Hill (27) in Thursday’s preseason game.

The Spurs’ Tim Duncan (center) puts up a shot over the Rockets’ Jordan Hill (27) in Thursday’s preseason game.

At 34, Spurs' Duncan prepares for another long haul

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At a glance, Spurs forward Tim Duncan does not look like a 34-year-old big man entering his 14th NBA season. He is fit, energetic and trimmer than he was the last time he won a championship.

The secret to Duncan's youthful figure: a health-conscious diet, a fat-burning offseason regimen that included boxing with San Antonio's Jesse James Leija and, he jokes, a little something extra between his torso and jersey top.

Is it true the Spurs captain is now wearing Spanx?

"I am, actually," Duncan kidded Monday. "But keep that between us."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn't care how his 12-time All-Star came to achieve his fitness-magazine physique, which stretches a lean 260 pounds across its 6-foot-11 frame. All he cares about is making sure Duncan feels as fresh at the end of the season as he looks right now.

Thirteen years ago this Halloween, Duncan made his NBA debut as a 21-year-old rookie in a 107-96 win at Denver. Since then, he has logged 1,156 games, including the playoffs, his personal odometer rivaling that of an interstate trucker's big rig.

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Standing on the precipice of another opening day Wednesday against Indiana, Duncan - a two-time league MVP who remains at the center of the Spurs' fragile championship hopes - is once again battening down for the long haul.

"It's 82 games, it's months," Duncan said. "It's hard to get too high for the beginning, knowing what you have in front of you."

Three years removed from his most recent NBA championship, Duncan is on the verge of the longest title-less stretch of his career. The realization that the window for a fifth championship is rapidly closing has fueled Duncan's newfound health kick.

A plan to sit Duncan the second night of most back-to-backs was scrapped as the Spurs found themselves fighting for their playoff lives into April. He wound up appearing in 78 games, three more than the season before.

Duncan expects a similar arrangement this season, even if it conflicts with the Spurs' stated desire to get off to a better start than they have in previous years.

"I don't know that I'll play in 82 games," Duncan said, "but hopefully I can play in the high 70s and sit out a couple by choice."

Duncan acknowledges he isn't the same player he was in his 20s, a sentiment echoed by a recent NBA.com survey of league general managers. For the first time since the poll's inception, Duncan was not listed as the league's top power forward, surpassed by Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and the Lakers' Pau Gasol.

Yet Duncan can still impose his will on a game, and on a locker room. In the fourth quarter of a tight contest, he remains among the safest go-to bets in the league.

"He'll still be that guy four or five years after he retires," forward Richard Jefferson said.

As he creeps toward NBA senior citizenship, 'retirement' is a word that seems to swirl around Duncan a little more often these days.

There have been whispers - none of them, notably, coming from the man himself - that this could be Duncan's last season, given a potential lockout looming next year.

His current contract is set to expire after the 2011-12 campaign. If labor strife were to erase that season, would Duncan want to return for more at 36?

Duncan has long maintained he intends to play for as long as his body allows - "until the wheels fall off," as he puts it. His goal is to postpone that day for as long as possible.

For now, Duncan isn't thinking about the end of a career, only the beginning of a season. Another one starts Wednesday.